Exploring Life & Business with Alex Ross of Cheremoya

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Ross.

Hi Alex, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
As a curator, art dealer, and writer, my story occasions little more fanfare than the honor of saying it resides with the extraordinary artists, authors, curators, editors, mentors, and other art workers with whom I’ve had the privilege of forming collaborations meaningful to me over the past two decades moving across Santa Fe, London, Paris, Vienna, Naples, Milan, Oslo, Rome, CDMX, Pistoia, Vilnius, Los Angeles, and online. Whether at galleries in which I’ve played a part (Hester, Downs & Ross, Cheremoya) or elsewhere, I remain profoundly grateful for these shared endeavors, past and present: the true make and measure of that narrative. Thank you to the many who deserve such profuse thanks, including but not limited to:

A.E. Benenson, Adriano Amaral, Aidan Koch, Ajay Kurian, Alan Belcher, Alan Longino, Alex Gartenfeld, Alice Notley, Aline Sofie Rainer, Alexandra Metcalf, Alexandra Noel, Andrea Baccin, Andrew Berardini, Andrew Norman Wilson, Angelica Bazzana, Anna Gritz, Anna Park, Artie Vierkant, B. Ingrid Olson, Beatrice Marchi, Bouchra Ouizguen, Brad Troemel, Bradford Kessler, Bridget Hamel, Bunny Rogers, C. Abyss, Calla Donofrio, Calla Henkel, Carlos Lara, Carlos Reyes, Caroline Mesquita, Catherine Mulligan, Cecilia Canziani, Chosil Kil, Chris Fitzpatrick, Chris Sharp, Chrissie Iles, Christopher Culver, Coco Young, Daiga Grantina, Daina Augaitis, Dani Leder, Daniele Milvio, Darja Bajagić, Darius Mikšys, Darren Bader, Deanna Havas, Dora Budor, Douglas Watt, Dylan Vandenhoeck, Edoardo Bonaspetti, Edoardo Crespo, Ele Carpenter, Elisa Lammer, Eliza Douglas, Elizaveta Shneyderman, Ellen Brooks, Elizabeth Jaeger, Elliott Wright, Eloise Hawser, Emilia Skarnulyte, Emma McMillan, Erin Jane Nelson, Eric Veit, Erika Ceruzzi, Fatos Üstek, Fay Nicolson, Filipa Ramos, Flora Klein, Francesco Pedraglio, Gabriele De Santis, Gabriela Jauregui, Gelitin, Giangiacomo Rossetti, Ghislaine Leung, Gilda Williams, Gitanjali Dang, Giuseppe Alleruzzo, Grant Mooney, Guillaume Breton, Guy Church, Hannah Lees, Heji Shin, Helena Reckitt, Hera Lindsay Bird, Héloïse Chassepot, Hilary Crisp, Holt Quentel, Hou Zichao, Huirong Ye, Ian Law, Ieva Misevičiūtė, Ilaria Gianni, Ilaria Marotta, Iman Issa, Imogen Brent, Ivy Haldeman, Jacky Connolly, James Cope, James Gardner, Jens Kothe, Jennifer Teets, Jeppe Uggelvig, Jiang Cheng, Jo Shane, Joanna Slusarczyk, Joanne Kyger, John Beeson, Jonathan Skinner, Jon Bywater, Joshua Citarella, Joshua Nathanson, Judy Chicago, Julia Tcharfas, Juste Kostikovaite, Karen Archey, Karen Sylvester, Kate Mosher Hall, Kati Kirsch, Kayode Ojo, Kento Saisho, Kenneth Winterschladen, Kim Farkas, Kristin Walsh, Kroot Juurak, Lars-Erik Hjertström Lappalainen, Laura McLean-Ferris, Lauren Guilford, Lauren Quin, Leelee Chan, Li Hei Di, Lionel Maunz, Lisa Holzer, Liz Magor, Louisa Gagliardi, Lucia Leuci, Luke Stettner, Madeleine Hines, Madelyn Kellum, Maria Hassabi, Marie Karlberg, Martha Kirszenbaum, Martine Syms, Mary Mito, Mathis Gasser, Matthew Post, May Hands, Max Pitegoff, Megan Plunkett, Melanie Ouyang Lum, Micaela Durand, Mohamed Namou, Monika Lipchitz, Morgan Canavan, Motoko Ishibashi, N. Dash, Nadia Belerique, Naoki Sutter-Shudo, Nicelle Beauchene, Nick Bastis, Nicoletta Lambertucci, Nina Hartmann, Nora Berman, Olivia Erlanger, Olivian Cha, Oto Gillen, Pablo Helguera, Patrick Quinn, Paul Pieroni, Pauline Shaw, Piotr Lakomy, Post Brothers, Priscilla Jeong, Quinn Latimer, Rachel Maclean, Rachel Wetzler, Ragna Bley, Raimar Stange, Rita Vitorelli, Rosa Aiello, Rose Marcus, Rosie Cooper, Rute Merk, Sabrina Tarasoff, Sally O’Reilly, Samara Scott, Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer, Sarah Lucas, Sarah McMenimen, Sissel Blystad, Sojourner Truth Parsons, Sofia Hultén, Stephanie Hier, Steve Bishop, Suzanne Pagé, Sydney Shen, Tara Downs, Tim Etchells, Tim Ivison, Tishan Hsu, Tom McCarthy, Tom Waring, Toril Johannessen, Tsai Yun-Ju, Tyler Coburn, Tyler Woolcott, Ursula Bradley, Valentina Suma, Valentinas Klimasauskas, Vanessa Conte, Vanessa Gingold, Vanessa Gully Santiago, Venus Lau, Vikky Alexander, Willa Nasatir, Willa Wasserman, William Corwin, Yanyan Huang, and Zoe Alameda.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Fielding the needs of high-profile private and public clients globally remains a complex undertaking across any sector. Further, ensuring that artists are seen and heard while cultivating nuanced understandings and markets relevant to their work among diverse constituencies presents its own challenges, whether I’m advising, curating, dealing, or writing. This is especially true amid ongoing industry-wide contractions, renewed and reductive cultural polarizations, and the accelerating influence of new technologies, not least of which include the depersonalizations that accompany algorithmic validation and AI’s expanding role as an arbiter of artistic meaning.
To borrow an Amy Cappellazzo observation, “For artists, the art market is like the weather. It happens to you.” And yet, perseverance in the face of shifting capitalization, an abiding sense of value over price, and a practiced sensitivity to phase shifts in visual culture keep one attuned to what really matters: always, this begins and ends with the artists.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
cher·i·moy·a /ˌCHerəˈmoiə/
noun
1. a tropical American fruit with a flavor like pineapple and scaly green skin.
2. the small tree which bears the cherimoya fruit, native to the Andes of Peru and Ecuador.

cher·e·moy·a
/ˌCHerəˈmoiə/
noun
1. a contemporary art gallery established in 2024 in Los Angeles.

Pricing:

• Our exhibitions are always free and open to everyone, and the gallery is fully accessible to visitors of all abilities.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cheremoya.la
• Instagram: @cheremoya_la

Image Credits
All artwork images are courtesy of the artists and Cheremoya, Los Angeles. Photos: Evan Bedford.